Mobile Hunter Gundam R
by RVerliden
Summary: In the past, though Man created Dust to survive, the giants of Grimm rose up, threatening to return humans to nothingness. However, Man then created the Mobile Suit, ensuring Man's place in the world. Now, a girl and her Mobile Suit are about to enter a prestigious academy for Hunters. Her dream to become a Mobile Hunter begins now... Crossover between RWBY and Gundam in general.
1. Rise of Ruby

Vale: a modern city with its old roots still visible in places. For all that had changed through history, one of the many things still present was the ever-existent criminal element, one that thrived in the background like a persistent strain of kudzu. Part of this criminal element was currently strolling down one of Vale's more historical streets, a road dotted with apartments that sat on top of shops, bars, and restaurants. The pack of thugs, composed of men in black suits and hats with red sunglasses-with the exception of their red-haired, white-trench coat-wearing, cane-toting leader-walked in a V-like formation, intimidating bystanders to the sides. On this night, during an hour where many townsfolk were far from ready to go home for the evening, these gangsters were making their way to a local Dust shop, intending to make a lucrative hit.

The store, named "From Dust Till Dawn," was still open at this hour, though it was close to closing time for its elderly shopkeep, a man who saw the pack of men walk through the front door. Fear rose up in the old man, who'd heard of similar robberies in the recent past. He pleadingly offered the gang's red-headed leader all the Lien in his till before the younger man presented a briefcase, opening it and directing the old shopkeep to place the Dust crystals on display in the case while his subordinate men-in-black began filling canisters with various flavors of fine-ground Dust. As one henchman went to fill the canister in his hand, he heard a faint song coming from somewhere. Turning his head, the gangster walked over to the source-a person in a red cloak- as he drew out his curved, red-bladed machete and demanded the stranger to surrender. Receiving no response, he forcefully pulled back the red hood, revealing a young girl, wearing similarly red headphones with a flower motif on each ear, reading a weaponry magazine, who naturally turned around and moved the headphones aside to listen.

"I said," repeated the goon, "put your hands in the air, now!" "Are you...robbing me?" replied the black-and-red-haired girl. After a response in the affirmative, the girl immediately understood the situation, at which point, she delivered a quick-and-dirty punch to the henchman's torso, sending him flying back down near the Dust tubes and crashing into some marked-down containers. Another gangster ran up to replace his downed comrade, drew an automatic pistol on the girl and commanded her to freeze. This was met with a sudden burst of speed from the girl as she tackled the man all the way through the store window into the now-empty street.

* * *

Glynda Goodwitch, a blond-haired, glasses-wearing huntress and practitioner of glyph-based magic, was about to walk into the holding room and give a stern talk to the girl she had just saved. Taking off her glasses to rub her face and pinch the bridge of her nose, she was met by the man who just strolled in: a man named Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy, where she taught classes at in addition to her other duties. She was almost surprised to see her superior here.

"I've heard you ran into someone interesting while chasing down Torchwick today," intoned the silver-haired man. The intellectual's appearance was somewhat odd, though Glynda was able to guess why he was here. "Indeed," she replied, "I met a young lady who managed to hold her own against several of Torchwick's henchmen and almost got blasted by a Dust explosion when I stepped in. I take it you have an interest in her as a student?" The professor chuckled lightly before saying, "Well, you don't fully know that yet, Ms. Goodwitch. I'm simply interested in talking with her to determine how she got here." "Well, you'll have to wait, I must have a word with the girl about her actions today."

"Don't be too harsh on her," spoke Ozpin. Glynda simply turned, opened the door to the room the girl was in, and walked in while Opzin began taking the plastic covering off the circular object he brought with him. Looking at the youthful girl, who was currently sitting at a table, much like a schoolchild called to the principal's office, Glynda stoically pulled up a holopad, brought up footage of the incident, and began pacing the room as she began to upbraid the girl for her actions, referring to her recklessness and near-death.

After a couple minutes of strong criticism, balanced with a few kind words, and finally punctuated with a smack of her riding crop on the table, she concluded her talk by walking off to the side, allowing the man, now carrying a plate of cookies and a cup of coffee. "Ruby Rose," spoke Ozpin, who learned the girl's name (along with details of what happened) by overhearing the conversation that just concluded. He leaned closer to her face, studying her eyes. "You...have silver eyes." "Um..." Ruby replied, unsure of what he was going to ask. "So," Ozpin continued, "where did you learn to do _this_?" With his head, he glanced at Glynda's holopad, indicating the footage of the fight with Torchwick's men.

* * *

What immediately transpired after Ruby tackled the second henchman was otherwise fast. The others began to charge at her, pistols and machetes in hand. Ruby ducked, rolled, and jumped, delivering a series of quick, powerful kicks, punches, and chops to each one that came at her with blades. One raised his pistol and began firing of a flurry of shots at her, which she just dodged as she speedily darted towards the gunman, grabbed him, and tossed him into the ground at Torchwick's feet. After a few seconds of this unarmed beatdown, Torchwick, surprised and impressed, muttered an aside about his hired goons and raised his white cane, revealing a hole in the bottom and a crosshair that flipped up from the end. "Well, Red," he spoke as this was happening, "I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening, and as much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid _this_ is where we part ways!" With that, he fired upon Ruby, his cane-gun spitting out a quickly-combusting chunk of Dust. However, Ruby managed to dodge the resulting fire-blast, somersaulting in the air and landing in a crouch.

When she looked back up, Torchwick was already gone, but a quick scan of the surroundings revealed that he was making his getaway up a building's ladder to make a rooftop escape. She took off after him, withdrawing a small red device as she ran, depressing a button on it, causing a green LED on it to blink. As she followed him up the building, she heard a distinctive sound that overpowered the distant police sirens: the rush of thrusters-Mobile Suit thrusters. She caught up to the crook on the rooftop and was about to engage him when, suddenly, the source of the noise revealed itself. Rising above the tall apartment complex was indeed a Mobile Suit-a Gundam-type, colored blood-red, with black and luminescent yellow accents, boasting a head with horn-like protrusions in a V-shape, moving "binders" on the back, and blunt spikes adorning its shoulders, arms, and legs. Hovering around waist-level with respect to the roof, it extended a clawed hand towards Torchwick, who was standing at the edge. As he hopped onto the withdrawing hand, the Gundam-type's cockpit hatch opened, partially showing its pilot, a woman in a similarly blood-red dress, obscured by shadow from the hips-up, the only other visible thing being her eerily luminescent yellow eyes.

Torchwick looked back at the girl, and, withdrawing a red Dust crystal, shouted "End of the line, Red!" He hurled the crystal towards her and raised his cane-blaster, firing a flare which impacted and detonated the crystal. As the smoke cleared from the resulting explosion, Torchwick's victory was short-lived as he saw a purple runic circle hovering in front of Ruby, having shielded her from the blast. At that moment, another Mobile Suit arrived from above, this one yet another Gundam, a mostly-white, purple-accented suit Ruby vaguely recognized as a GX-9900 model, except modified heavily from the basic model, lacking the original X-wings on the back along with the trademark hyper-cannon, replaced with four corrugated fins angled downward. Coming to a steady hover ten feet over the building, clutching a medium-sized, staff-like weapon in one hand, the new Gundam swung the "wand," which fired off a series of magic missiles, pelting the red Gundam and jostling both Torchwick and the mystery pilot. Just then, yet another Mobile Suit arrived, this one being the one Ruby expected. Having used her Recall Remote earlier, she had summoned her own Mobile Suit, also a Gundam-type, red as rose petals, shaped with a boxy form, clutching a similarly-boxy weapon in one hand. As it also came close to the roof, she quickly back-flip-jumped into its open cockpit, which closed shut afterwards.

Torchwick, staggering into the panoramic cockpit and reaching for the spare seat, exclaimed "We've got Gundams! I think it's that Huntress!" to his savior, who proceeded to close the cockpit hatch, preparing to flee the scene, already hovering a good distance from the surrounding buildings and with a modest gap between it and the Gundams trying to stop it. The Gundam X readied its wand again, the entire Mobile Suit glowing for a brief moment, generating another bright purple mote of light at the end, which was flung towards the fleeing red-and-black Gundam. The magic orb exploded in mid-air into three smoky, concentric circles, a dark stormcloud forming as the runic rings dissipated. The sudden, strong winds threatened to destabilize the enemy Gundam's flight and send it crashing down, and the hail of sharp icicles that followed embedded themselves into the Mobile Suit's armor. Undeterred by the now-fading storm, however, the renegade Suit's yellow accents increased in luminescence as it created a fireball in its hands, which it hurled at the GX, which itstelf generated a runic forcefield to block it, breaking up the fireball on impact, multiple embers landing on the roof. With another wave of the fiery Gundam's hands, the embers quickly coalesced into a pillar of fire, which the Huntress' own Gundam just about managed to dodge. The Gundam X waved its wand once more, and the red-hot debris from the blast gathered into a gray-purple lance, which then surged forth at the fire-Gundam.

Despite additional fire-blasts that seemed to break it up, the rubble-lance reformed and charged forth again, glancing off a red right shoulder and grazing the right binder. The purple debris then split into three snake-like forms, swarming around it before the Gundam surrounded itself with rings of fire that became an explosion of energy, destroying them. It was at this point that Ruby had finally finished starting up her Mobile Suit: the Gaia Gundam _Wulfen_, originally a one-off prototype that was consigned to obscurity until she "rescued" it and gave it a personal touch along the way. The long box-gun it had folded in half, extending a side-grip, Ruby aiming it at the other red Gundam. The gun fired off particle beam shots at it, though the blue beams were blocked by the other Gundam's own hand. Then, the fire-magic Gundam swiped in the air with its other hand, generating multiple pools of fire at the ground below Ruby and the Gundam of her mysterious ally. Before they were wiped out, however, the white GX shoved her Gaia out of the way, straightening themselves out only for the mysterious Gundam to flee anyways, its binders unfurling into a protective "cloak" of armor as its thrusters kicked into full-throttle, taking it out of the area quickly.

Inside the Gundam X's cockpit, Glynda relaxed, watching the fleeing "Master" Gundam disappear into the night sky. A comm feed suddenly popped up on her side monitor, revealing the face of Ruby. "Are you a Huntress?" Ruby asked as Glynda turned her attention to the girl who was now in a Gundam of her own. With a look of joy on her face and her hands held up excitingly, Ruby asked in a nearly-squeaky voice, "Can I have your autograph?"

* * *

Recalling the incident with a clarity that comes naturally to one who has experienced it mere hours earlier, Ruby answered, with slight trepidation, "...S...Signal Academy." It almost came out like a question. "_They_ taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" Ozpin asked with a slightly provoked energy. He was referring to not only the Mobile Suit, a type of weapon used by hunters, police, and the military in the modern age, but also to the Gundam, a type of Mobile Suit made to stand out among Mobile Suits for one reason or another. The martial artistry was certainly impressive, but a Gundam pilot always got his interest. After noting Ruby's confession of "one teacher in particular," he put the plate of cookies down in front of her, which she wolfed down with a smooth rapidity.

"It's just that I've only seen one other Mobile Suit pilot of that kind of skill before," he continued, "a dusty old Qrow..." "That's my uncle," Ruby replied around a mouthful of cookie before swallowing, apologizing, and continuing, "that's my Uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing, and now, I'm all like hoo! Wa-chaa!" She demonstrated her martial arts in a less serious way this time with quick, controlled hand motions. "And what is an adorable girl like you doing at a school designed to train warriors?" "Well, I want to be a Huntress!" "You want to slay giant beasts in the cockpit of a Mobile Suit?" Ruby replied in the affirmative, going on to explain her educational situation and her desire to apply to Beacon Academy, which her sister attended, and spilling forth her life's dreams with her usual energy.

"Do you know who I am?" Ozpin asked, moving past her burst of information. "You're Professor Ozpin. You're the Headmaster at Beacon." "Hello." "Nice to meet you!" "You want to come to my school?" "More than anything!" He looked over at Glynda, who gave a neutral reaction. "Well, okay," Ozpin concluded.

* * *

_ZAMS-X88G/QMS-RR1 Gaia Gundam Wulfen (Personally-customized Transformable Gundam-type Mobile Suit)_

_Manufacturer: Consolidated Weaponry Bureau  
Operators: Ruby Rose  
Operation: Pilot in standard cockpit in torso  
Dimensions and weight: 17.80 m. overall (MS mode), 70.12 metric tons (max. weight)  
Design features: Variable Phase Shift Armor, unknown sensor range, 10+ thrusters (outputs unknown), Dust Energy Beam Transfer System, Ultracompact Dust Reaction Battery (unknown power output), transformation capabilities (MA mode), super-locomotion actuators  
Armaments: 2 x 20mm CIWS (head-mounted, MS mode only), 2 x beam saber (hip-stored), 2 x beam daggers (torso-stored), "Crescent Rose" beam sniper rifle/collapsible box beam rifle + beam scythe (hand-carried, back-stored, power rating 3.0-8.5 MW, E-cap-powered), beam gun (MA head-mounted, MA mode only, power rating 1.8 MW, directly-powered)  
_

_The Gaia Gundam was originally designed as a prototype and a proof-of-concept machine by CWB to see if they could break into the market for transforming Mobile Suits. One of multiple prototypes optimized for a specific environment (rough terrain, specifically), the Gaia was resigned into storage until financial woes hit CWB, forcing them to sell the mothballed prototype. Ruby Rose, a girl in the market to make a Mobile Suit for herself, got Uncle Qrow's help in buying up the overlooked prototype. Afterwards, the young girl spent months fixing it up by selling off some of its original weaponry and building some new armaments for it, including her pride, the "Crescent Rose," a beam sniper rifle that could become a carbine and even sprout a scythe blade made of beam particles. After some tweaks to its quick-response actuators and the installation of extra thrusters, Ruby managed to make it into a Mobile Suit that reflects her speedy nature. The Wulfen, named after the Dire Beowolves she slew with it, was finally painted red to help signify its speed and deadliness._

* * *

**A/N: This is another idea I finally put to words. When RWBY was originally airing, I was already a mecha-head and I was getting (back) into Gundam pretty heavily, and I kept joking at every little parallel I found (after all, both RWBY and Gundam Wing both have a group called the White Fang). Eventually, I decided to try and write this. I do apologize for the wordiness, however (I want to capture RWBY's level of detail, so it gets wordy), and while I admit this is going to follow RWBY's plot kinda closely at first, I am still going to try to show how things are different with Mobile Suits and kaiju-scale Grimm in the mix. Future promises I'll try to keep: I won't go too fast, because I want to see what Volume 2 will show us in case that affects this fic (of course), and I will pare down the Jaundice arc quite a bit (I will have Jaune get a small comeback, in fact). Also, if you're wondering, I will likely append an MS profile at the end of each chapter, as seen here. Do feel free to leave formatting suggestions for that (or any part of this fic, really).**

**RWBY is created by and belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth Productions, and Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam, and related trademarks belong to Sunrise, Sotsu Agency, and Bandai.**


	2. Rough Arrival

On the following day, Ruby found herself aboard one of many airships heading for Beacon Academy. She happened to be on the same airship as her sister, one Yang Xiao Long, a blond-haired girl two years older than her. Upon learning of Ruby's enrollment at Beacon, Yang excitedly embraced her sister in a nearly-bone-crushing hug as she expressed joy at this development. Ruby, however, tried to downplay it, since she was not the kind of girl to attract undue praise to herself, which was already hard for her due to being moved ahead two years, placing her in Yang's year. As this conversation transpired, the holo-TV inside the airship's cabin was displaying the morning news as the channel wrapped up a report on Roman Torchwick's latest robbery attempt that previous night.

As the news segued into a report on a Faunus protest gone wrong, the TV's feed disappeared, replaced by the image of Glynda Goodwitch, who delivered a welcoming message to everyone on board. Ruby went up to the window, awed at the sights of Signal Academy below and the airships around theirs, all of them carrying students and Mobile Suits. During this, one airsick boy, sporting short, blond hair and wearing a hoodie, began groaning before he staggered around, inadvertently splashing some vomit on Yang's shoes.

* * *

After touching down, Ruby, Yang, and all the other new students walked off the airship's ramp and onto the wide, tiled pathway to the school. The blond-haired boy from earlier, nicknamed "Vomit Boy," had also stopped to empty more puke into a nearby garbage can. The school, a large tower surrounded by a concentric array of shorter turrets, large double doors in the distance along with courtyards and walkways lined with banner-adorned lampposts, stood in the distance, a castle of study and the path to certain greatness. The magnificence of the towering building in the distance was not lost on the two sisters, the both of them stopping to admire the beauty of the school-or, at least, Yang did, as Ruby was suddenly taken in by the array of Mobile Suits being transported around the circumference of the school grounds by multiple flatbeds, some of them followed by students wanting to make sure they were handled safely.

Ruby gasped in delight as her voice took on an excited squeakiness again. "Ooh, ooh, Sis, that kid's got a Gelgoog Jager, oh, she's got a GM II!" Almost quite literally pulling her sister back to reality, Yang stated that they were just weapons. "Just weapons? They're an extension of ourselves, they're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool!" replied Ruby, beaming. "Well, why can't you swoon over your own MS? Aren't you happy with it?" "Of course I'm happy with the Gaia Wulfen, I just really like seeing many different ones! It's like meeting new people, but better." "Ruby, come on," replied Yang, teasing her sister by pulling her hood over her face, "why don't you try to make friends of your own?" "Why would I need friends when I have you?" "Well, actually, my friends are here now, gotta go catch up, bye!" said Yang as several other students caught up to her. With that, Yang and her posse took off, leaving Ruby behind, dazed and confused. Exasperated, she collapsed backwards onto a luggage cart she didn't notice, falling on several white suitcases, knocking them onto the ground.

"_What_ are you _doing_?!" asked the stern, annoyed voice of another girl. "Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?!" "Uh..." Ruby mumbled out. The girl, shorter than Ruby, with white hair that terminated in a long ponytail, also dressed in a white dress that came down to mid-thigh length, possessing a scar over her left eye. Grabbing a suitcase, the girl began lecturing to Ruby about the Dust inside the case, Ruby unable to get a word in edgewise, while the girl produced a red vial of Dust, shaking it at Ruby, causing some of the powder to fly into the air, particulate going into Ruby's nostrils. As the white-haired girl berated Ruby and questioned her attention span, Ruby sneezed, causing a burst of fire to violently spray onto the girl, followed by a few aftershocks of ice and lightning inside the cloud caused by other Dust types. The original vial was flung into the air during this, landing on the ground at the feet of another girl, black-haired, black-clothed, wearing a ribbon on her head and holding a book in her hands. The second newcomer picked up the snowflake-marked vial, regarding it as she looked over at the white girl, who, surprisingly unmarred, continued to upbraid Ruby, who barely got any word in other than a fervent "Sorry, sorry!" "I said I was sorry, Princess!" Ruby irritatedly snapped back at the girl who had just verbally berated her so relentlessly.

"It's Heiress, actually," said the approaching black-haired girl. "Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." "Finally, some recognition!" said Weiss, right before the other girl continued: "The same company infamous for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." The newcomer was alluding, with that last item, to the Schnee Dust Company's associations with a few less-than-reputable Dust distributors, a couple private security companies, and, most alarmingly, a Mobile Suit manufacturer. Shocked at this, Weiss stammered, "Wha-how dare-th-the nerve of-" Weiss said nothing else, grabbing the Dust vial from the black-clothed girl's hand and stomping away while two retainers recollected the suitcases and the cart. "I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby shouted after Weiss. Deflated, Ruby then turned to strike up a conversation with the other girl, who was already walking away at that point as well.

Alone again, Ruby collapsed to her knees, then backwards again, lying on the ground for a single, solitary moment until a shadow loomed over her-it was "Vomit Boy," who extended a helping hand towards her. "Hey...I'm Jaune," said the blond boy, with a slight awkwardness. "Ruby."

* * *

Walking down one of the circular thoroughfares, Jaune explained, "All I'm saying is that motion-sickness is a much more common problem than people let on!" "I'm sorry, Vomit Boy was the first thing that came to mind!" Ruby replied. "Oh, yeah? Well, what if I called you Crater-Face?" "Hey, that explosion was an accident!" "Well, the name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it." After a small question about whether they did, Ruby pulled out her small, personal datapad, bringing up her Gaia Gundam while she pointed to the actual MS as it was being trucked in. Jaune, looking between the image of the Gundam with its long-box weapon generating a particle-beam scythe blade and the physical Suit, exclaimed, "Whoa, is that a beam scythe?!" "It's also a customizable, high-energy beam rifle!" "A wha?" "It's also a gun." "Oh. That's cool!"

"So what do you got?" asked Ruby. Jaune pulled out his own datapad, found the imagery of his own Mobile Suit that he was memorizing for later during the ride, also happened to spot it being wheeled around, and said, "Oh, uh...mine's got a sword," pointing out the long, solid sword blade attached to what could be a shield, the whole thing itself attached to what also looked somewhat like a Gundam. Ruby also noticed the text around the rendering of the MS, which said "NG-001, CODENAME 'EXIA,' FOR YOUR EYES ONLY UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE."

Ruby's suspicion of what the sword was connected to was confirmed by Jaune, who said, "Yeah, it's got a shield, too!" "So, what do they do?" Ruby asked, as she grabbed Jaune's wrist to bring the datapad closer to her face. Jaune, after that initial surprise, continued, "The sword folds back into the shield, so when it gets in the way, I can just put it away." He used his free hand to swipe the image, bringing up a picture of the sword-and-shield combo, the blade swiveled backwards. "But, wouldn't it still be out?" "Yes, it would," replied Jaune, defeated.

After she mentioned that not only did she make "Crescent Rose" and modify the Gaia herself, but also that all students at Signal did much of the same, Jaune mentioned that his was based on older tech and given to him. Ruby said that she liked it anyways, because of the dedication towards an older kind of weapon and because of the surprisingly futuristic design of his certainly-had-to-be-a Gundam. "So, why'd you help me out back there, in the courtyard?" she asked. "Eh, why not? My mom always says, 'strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.'" "Hm. Hey, where're going?" "I dunno, I was just following you! You think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court? Some sort of recognizable landmark?" Ruby's snickering led Jaune to guess "No."

* * *

Inside the ceremony hall, Ruby rejoined her sister. As she explained the explosion incident to Yang, it turned out that Weiss happened to be standing behind her, which was revealed to Ruby when she shouted "You!" Hopping into Yang's arms, Ruby dreaded this second encounter, getting back on her feet while trying to explain herself. Weiss' reply was to whip out a pamphlet about Dust use and present it to Ruby, running off a standard liability disclaimer that almost became too much for Ruby to process: "The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company productalthoughnotmandatorytheSchneefamily highlyencouragesourcustomers_toreadandfamiliarizethemselveswiththiseasytofollowguidetoDustapplicationanduseinthefield_" "Uhm..." "You really wanna start making things up to me?" "Absolutely?" "Read this and don't ever speak to me again." Yang tried to patch things up between the two of them, thus, Ruby tried to introduce herself properly, mentioning the possibility of going out shopping. Weiss' reply (mentioning typical "girly" activities) carried a current of sarcasm not obvious to Ruby, which led her to reply to Ruby's "Really?!" with a flat "No."

However, this line of conversation was cut off by the speaker system inside the hall whining to life as Professor Ozpin cleared his throat. Standing on the stage with Glynda off to the side, he began: "I'll keep this brief. You have traveled today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and aquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look among you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowedge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." As he walked away, Glynda stepped up to the microphone. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. You are dismissed."

* * *

Later that night, all the students about to undergo initiation were dressed in nightwear, their sleeping bags, blankets, and such set up in the ballroom. Ruby, wearing a black top, a face mask perched on her head, and rose-patterned pajama pants, was busy writing a letter to her friends back in Signal Academy when Yang flopped onto the bag next to her sister's. A discussion on friends, which involved a pillow or two being flung into Yang's head, shifted when the sound of a match being struck drew the sisters' attention to the black-haired girl from earlier, now dressed in a black bathrobe. Seeing an opportunity for Ruby to make a new friend, Yang grabbed her reluctant sister by the arm and dragged her over to the girl, who sat by a freshly-lit candelabra, reading a book.

Deciding to go along with it, Ruby introduced herself after being reminded of the explosion incident. Receiving no handshake, Ruby almost invited the "Crater-Face" nickname, but awkwardly stuck to her name. After asked by Yang, the girl, still buried in her book, gave her name: "Blake." After Yang's own introduction, Blake strongly hinted that they should leave her alone, as she was far more interested in the book. Ruby's inquiry about the book briefly took Blake by surprise, and the conversation shifted to Ruby's exposure to stories of heroes and monsters, which ignited her desire to become a Huntress. Ruby's altruistic statement of wanting to protect the weak then got Blake to momentarily lower the book, remarking on the sheer optimism of it. This, in turn, led Yang to pick up her baby sister, embracing her in another tight hug which devolved into a fight between the two, which in turn garnered Weiss' attention, breaking up the fight to berate them about the noise they made. As the back-and-forth arguing began, Blake blew out the candles, ready to sleep.

* * *

_Excerpt from "Thaddeus Quav's Almanac of Early History and Legends:"_

_For centuries, since the invention of Dust, Human and Faunus alike could afford protection from the creatures of Grimm. Walls were established, hunters became the norm, and, for a great amount of time, it seemed as though people had to fear the incursion of Grimm less than wars between each other. Technology improved and improved, keeping ahead and abreast of any threats presented by the monsters. It almost seemed as if life could be lived without nearly any thought paid to the creatures._

_However, 132 years ago to the day of these words being written, the balance of things changed suddenly. One day, a quite massive Grimm rose up from the sea, almost reptilian in appearance, its dread visage towering over coastal citizens in the continent of Vale. Try as they might, the military's weaponry seemed to only stun it at first, until the hunters and soldiers of Vale redoubled their efforts to destroy the beast while simultaneously receiving assistance from other countries. At the end of a 23-hour battle, the giant Grimm, nicknamed "The Tyrant," was finally felled. Little did many know, however, that it would be the first of many other such giants._

_Days later, another kingdom reported the presence of a massive bull-like Grimm roaming the forest outskirts, seemingly docile, but clearly tremendously powerful. Action clearly had to be taken, it was decided. Scientists, engineers, artificers, and more volunteers from all the empires in Remnant gathered together to ruminate on a solution, studying the remains of the Tyrant, as acid-eaten and toxic as they were. By learning how so great a creature could exist, they concluded that the most effective way to meet such giants was to create giants of their own. The scientific committee then split up, devising a few different solutions. _

_One group created a gigantic vehicle, a hovercraft of great size which became the Land Battleship. Another created a large aerial vehicle of almost comparable stature, later called a Mobile Armor. Another created a prototype of a mechanical beast similar to the Tyrant, but it met with some hostility and the concept was abandoned. The idea that won out, however, was similar: a giant humanoid robot, called a Mobile Suit. Having decided on the Mobile Suit, a great deal of effort went into creating the first prototype version. I will not write of it in detail here, but, suffice to say, it succeeded, despite the technological hurdles of the time. Proving its worth by defeating the great bull, the Mobile Suit became highly-demanded, and the manufacturers created a company with branches all over the world to satisfy demands. _

_As giant Grimm continued to appear, the increasing threat was met by a response in the form of an increasing number of the first completed Mobile Suit, named the Zaku. This development managed to cement itself in the global culture, and Mobile Suits became the new standard of combat in many aspects, even being used in wars when not fighting back titans. Over the years, combat slowly moved from the infantry-and-tanks level to MS-to-MS combat as technology improved._


	3. Into the Emerald

The following day, all the prospective students woke up, some still sleepy, some ready for initiation, and others indifferent. One student, Lie Ren, a boy with a very reserved disposition, found himself being followed by Nora Valkyrie, a hyperactive girl who talked his head off for most of the morning. While Ruby and Yang were holding a conversation in the locker room over Ruby wanting to work with Yang and the initiation involving being put into dedicated teams, Weiss struck up a conversation with Pyrrha Nikos, a skilled student of Sanctum and minor celebrity over teaming up as well. Jaune's attempts to flirt with either of the two while boasting about "Team Jaune" went over rather poorly, almost ending in physical trauma.

The school's PA system sounded off, reminding the first-years to report to MS Hangar 10 to prepare for the initiation. The large, underground facility impressed anyone who hadn't gotten to see it yet. Sixteen Mobile Suits, aligned in one long row, were docked into solid frames to hold them in place, complete with elevators and catwalks. In front of the Suits were sloped elevators for transport to the surface. Hangar 10 led out into Beacon Cliff, where the initiation would begin. Inside the hangar, the sixteen initiates were given further prep time, making last-minute checks before climbing into their suits and powering them on.

Yang sped off towards her MS, a Gundam-type called the Shining Gold Gundam, which Ruby was only semi-familiar with. That machine was also a custom piece, rebuilt under Yang's direction. Its jutting torso was colored a soft-but-vibrant golden-yellow, with additional yellow and black accents, and it sported two large golden-yellow gauntlets that dominated the forearms, loaded with high-explosive cartridges, which were Yang's own Ember Celica weapons.

As Ruby sprinted towards her own Gundam, Jaune walked half-excitedly towards his angular-shaped Suit, its torso painted silver white, its limbs grey, and other elements painted either white or gold. The Gundam-like suit carried its sword-and-shield equipment, the shield and sword as silver as the Suit's torso. Jaune noticed the "collar" of macro-wrapping, a common Mobile Suit covering for transportation that partially covered the head and clavicles of his MS. He'd have to remove that later.

* * *

Inside the cockpit, Jaune fiddled with the controls to his Mobile Suit, trying to power it on. "Stupid...thing...where's the manual?" Hearing his grumblings, Ruby poked her head out of her Gaia's cockpit and shouted over to Jaune, "Need any help?" Jaune replied, "Uh, no, I got it under control, just gotta, ah, turn it on first! Stupid-" As he said this, he tried grabbing both control sticks and shoving them forward while holding down the triggers, which seemed to do the trick.

He heard something flicker into life as the cone-shaped object on the back of his Mobile Suit spun up with a distinct keening noise and began ejecting unusual yellow-green particles, which also issued forth from other areas on the Suit until this behavior ceased and the particles settled on trickling out of the back device. For the brief moment that the particles emanated from the whole machine, it strained against the carriage's restraints. "Huh, guess that's how..." Jaune muttered, his cockpit now fully lit up.

"Welp, good to hear!" beamed Ruby as she returned to her Mobile Suit. In its unpowered state, the Gaia Wulfen was a metallic grey color for the most part, due to its Variable Phase-Shift Armor that boasted the most effectiveness when given a power source. The colors it displayed when active depended on the amount of power fed into the armor. For Ruby's Gaia, the red color displayed represented a middling-to-strong amount of protective strength. This "Phase-Shift" was demonstrated as the Gaia's armor faded to red when Ruby activated her Gundam.

Jaune, looking at the side monitor in his now-closed cockpit, noted the large red cloak that hung on Ruby's Gundam. Fiddling with what he figured had to be the communication controls, he opened a comm-link to Ruby's suit. "Hey, Ruby," he asked, a window showing the inside of the Gaia's cockpit opening up on the monitor in front of him, "what's the giant cape for?" "Oh, it's just in case! It's made of a lightweight cloth, it can withstand some beam fire, oh, I can use it as a distraction, and it looks way cool, don't you think?" "I guess so," Jaune replied, shrugging. Ruby got a nice cape for her Gundam, and his Gundam-like machine had giant-sized packaging material around its neck instead.

* * *

The next thing to happen was that the massive elevator system warmed up, sending out warning beeps indicating that it was about to begin ascent. After a few seconds of that, the multiple cradles released their restraints as the mass elevator carried the Mobile Suits up the sloped track to the surface. At the end of the slow climb, the Beacon Cliff greeted them, overlooking the Emerald Forest, a vast expanse of woodlands tall enough to conceal a Mobile Suit. However, it was slightly hard for the students to see it, even in their tall machines, as ahead of them lay a slightly long strip of what a few suspected to be catapults.

On all of their Suits, a comm feed opened up, revealing Professor Ozpin's face, with Ms. Goodwitch standing behind him. "Students, please step onto the footlocks in front of you," said Glynda. Most of the sixteen initiates glanced down with their Mobile Suits, and all of them thusly guided their machines into the new set of restraints. Once everyone was secured, some noticed subtle changes occur, thrusters and comm-links having their settings modified.

"For years," began Ozpin, "you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Glynda and Ozpin then segued into explaining how teams would be formed during this first assignment, which caused Ruby some stress, especially due to the permanency of team composition. "...That being said, the first person you make contact with in your Mobile Suit after landing will be your partner for the next four years. After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." This last note caused Jaune to gulp nervously.

"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and carry it on their person before returning to the top of the cliff. We will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Jaune's attempt to ask a question instead resulted in him getting cut off as Ozpin instructed the lot to brace for takeoff. All of them took a "ready" stance with their Suits, bracing for what was likely about to happen, lowering their centers of gravity.

As Jaune was asking about landing strategies, the first Mobile Suit, belonging to Weiss, was launched by what turned out to be a linear catapult, hurling her entirely-white machine towards the expansive forest, thrusters flaring up. The others followed suit, also being launched by catapults while Jaune finished his question. Ozpin's reply was simply "You will be falling." As Jaune continued to ask regarding the subject, the last six catapults began to launch, with Nora going first. The catapults continued to launch across the row, finally reaching Jaune's Exia, cutting him off as he hurtled through the air after the others.

* * *

Over the treetops of the Emerald Forest, a large, crow-like avian glided over the forest canopy, right before it was absolutely smashed by around 70 tons of metal, electronics, and other material in the form of the Gaia Wulfen. Inside her cockpit, Ruby screamed, "Birdy no!" While using the few thrusters she could to brake, she readied her Crescent Rose in its folded form, fired off a couple blasts to open up a gap big enough for her Gundam to fit through, then performed a reverse somersault as she transformed the box-rifle into its scythe form, using the beam blade and its emitter to hook onto a branch, doing another backwards 360 before releasing and falling further.

Inside Weiss' Mobile Suit, the v Gundam (pronounced "Nu"), she readied her glyph magic. The twelve fin-like devices on the back of the MS detached and flew ahead of the machine. Through these sub-machines, which folded and arranged themselves into hexagonal patterns three-at-a-time, Weiss used her powers to create snowflake-glyph platforms for her Gundam to land and kick off of, slowing her own descent. The ability for her to express her magic at such a scale was all thanks to the v Gundam's design (and especially its "Fin Funnels," as the devices were called), created by her father's company and built by one of its partners.

Lie Ren's Mobile Suit, called the "Dynames," produced its StormFlower, a pair of beam pistols, each boasting a solid blade that pointed downwards. Using these pseudo-bayonets, Ren stabbed a tree, riding down the trunk in a spiral while carving a deep groove into the tall tree, coming to a soft landing. Hearing a noise, he looked above, seeing Yang's Gundam speed past overhead.

Whereas some used thrusters to help carry them ahead and then brake themselves, Yang was instead boosting herself along using nothing but the recoil generated by her Shining Gold's Ember Celica, which fired off its explosive shells, generating short-ranged fireblasts that propelled her along. She fired herself into the tree canopy, using the branches to cushion and slow her horizontal flight before emerging, her Gundam kicking off tree trunks towards the ground. Landing in a somersault, she said, "Nailed it!" as she quickly shifted into a running stance, her Suit dashing off.

Pyrrha hadn't spent long in the air before she engaged a key feature of her Aegis, transforming the Gundam-type into an arrow-like form that rammed through trees, shattering whatever she ran into before returning the Aegis into its regular MS mode. Landing on a branch as she rolled the Suit into a crouching position, beam rifle at the ready, she noticed, through the rifle optics, the form of a silver-and-grey Gundam-type tumbling end-over-end awkwardly, throwing out the odd particle while a male voice screamed near-helplessly out of its loudspeakers.

Wasting no time, the red-and-soft-orange Aegis flipped the beam rifle over, the weapon reshaping itself into a longer, narrower javelin with a heated blade. Pyrrha hurled the rifle-javelin, which boosted itself with an emission of plasma, sending it flying towards the about-to-crash Exia. A distant noise of hot metal and the low _twang_ of the spear indicated it hit, and a "Thank you!" broadcast over loudspeakers indicated she made the mark, as usual. "I'm sorry!" Pyrrha replied over her own speakers.

* * *

Upon landing, Ruby wasted no time, pushing her Mobile Suit into a full-on running stance and taking off in search of Yang. As her Gaia took off at incredible ground speed thanks to its high-powered actuators, Ruby kept thinking _Gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang..._ She tried a broadcast on as many channels as she could, calling for her sister. After a couple attempts at this, she began considering the possibilities she had if Yang couldn't be her partner, cycling through Jaune and Blake. Okay, w_ho else do I know in this school? There's Yang, Jaune, Blake, and..._

Ruby ground her Gundam to a halt as she spotted another Mobile Suit that was most certainly not Yang's. The pure-white Suit turned around, seeing Ruby's Gaia. Once Ruby finally came to a halt, she regarded the other Gundam for a few seconds before a comm-link automatically opened up in her main monitor, revealing the pilot to be Weiss. After a few moments of silent surprise between the two, Weiss closed the feed, her v turning away and walking off. "Wait," Ruby called, "where are you going?" As the v Gundam walked off, Ruby, dejected and disappointed, muttered, "We're supposed to be teammates..." as she dreaded having to work with Weiss.

Stumbling through the foliage, Weiss came upon what happened to be Jaune's Exia, pinned to a tree via a spear stuck through a slowly-burning piece of synthetic wrapping. As the Exia weakly waved a hello, Weiss turned her MS around and decided to stick with Ruby, leaving a dejected Jaune alone again. Grabbing the MS-scale cape of the Gaia Wulfen, she dragged Ruby along, telling her, "By no means does this make us friends," as Ruby exclaimed, "You came baaaack!"

"Hey, wait," Jaune broadcasted, "come back! Who's gonna get me down from here?!" He flapped the arms of his Exia, trying to signal them back, right before Pyrrha's Aegis approached. "Jaune?" Coming across the suspended Exia, Pyrrha jokingly asked, "Do you have any spots left on your team?" as a comm-link opened up between their Mobile Suits. "Very funny," replied Jaune. The two smiled at each other for a bit, right before the now-blazing macro-wrapping gave way, ripping away and burning up, freeing Jaune of both the tree and the awkward collar. Unfortunately, the Exia landed face-first when it fell. While Jaune's restraints saved him, Pyrrha could not help but giggle at the image of Jaune's face pressed against the screen.

* * *

"What's the hurry?" asked Ruby. "I will not let my mission be delayed just because you're too slow! I swear, if I get a bad grade because of your-" Weiss' reply was cut off by the Gaia suddenly appearing in front of her v, an accompanying gust of wind rustling the leaves. "I'm not slow, see? You don't have to worry about me!" said Ruby to a surprised Weiss. "When did-" "Weiss, just because I don't know how to deal with people doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters!"

After making her case, Ruby's Gaia sped off once again, disappearing in a cloud of rose petals, moving too fast for Weiss to even hope to track. Weiss picked up noises of foliage moving, branches bending, leaves rustling. While trying to call Ruby back, Weiss realized that she was surrounded by several pairs of glowing red eyes-the eyes of Grimm. One Dire Beowulf, a Beowulf the size of a Mobile Armor, stepped out of the tall shrubbery, growling at the white, mechanical intruder. Once again, Weiss called for Ruby.

* * *

Walking her Gundam through the forest, Yang tried calling out for others. Hearing leaves rustling, she parted a small, dense cluster of shorter trees apart with the Shining Gold's hands, revealing a growling Ursa Major instead of Ruby as she expected. Leaping out of the way of the ferocious Grimm, she readied the Ember Celica of the Shining Gold right before a second Ursa Major revealed itself. As one of the towering beasts lunged at Yang, she readied a punch that blasted it backwards and knocked it flat before delivering an uppercut to the second, followed up by a flip along with boost-blasts from the gauntlets that knocked the Ursa down. "You guys wouldn't happen to have seen a red robot with a hood, would you?"

This question was met with a roar from both Grimm. "You could just say no!" The first one charged her again, swiping at her, but not connecting as the Gundam backflipped away. Yang's taunting of the monsters was cut short as she noticed that part of the radial V-fin on her Mobile Suit cracked and fell away. _That_ enraged Yang, as she hated getting that part damaged, but also was furious that she got hit at all.

With that, her Gundam emitted a burst of fiery energy before she charged at the Ursi, delivering a furious barrage of fisticuffs that sent the Grimm through several trees. As the second one went right up to her, roaring and about to attack, it was suddenly stunned before it fell over, revealing a black Gundam standing behind it. In its hand was some sort of flat cord, which was revealed to be connected to a bladed weapon when the newcomer pulled it back, storing the now-folding weapon on the back of the Suit.

As the comm-link opened up to reveal a smirking Blake Belladonna, Yang said, "I coulda taken him!"

* * *

Weiss managed to withdraw the hip-carried rapier of the v, called "Myrtenaster," and raise it just in time to block a swipe from the main Dire Beowulve's claws. The Gundam braced for impact, the Myrtenaster taking the blow, resulting in the machine being pushed back. Despite being surrounded by mildly-smaller versions of the hulking creature, Weiss remained composed. _Remember your training, Weiss,_ she thought. _Head up, shoulders centered, right foot forward...not that forward! Slow your breathing, wait for the right time to strike, and..._ Her Gundam snapped into a swordfighting stance, its left arm drawn back, the Myrtenaster pointing forward, ready to strike. A cylinder of Dust charges inside the weapon spun for a short distance, selecting a fire charge. "Now!"

The Gundam charged forward on a thruster-enhanced leap, zooming elegantly towards the Beowulf in front of Weiss. Weiss was confident, certain that she would land a killing blow on the creature-until the Gaia materialized next to the lead Beowulf while landing a beam scythe blow on it. Taken by surprise, Weiss braked her v, but while flailing to a stop, she swung Myrtenaster, which discharged the fireblast she prepared, sending a line of fire across the clearing and into a tree, igniting it and blasting its leaves off in a flash.

Ruby, taken aback while watching Weiss' stumbling, was suddenly knocked back by the retaliating Dire Beowulf, sending her Gaia into Weiss' v. The Phase-Shift armor, along with her Aura, absorbed the strike, letting Ruby get away with having to stand up from a kneeling position. "Hey, watch it!" said Ruby. "Excuse me," Weiss replied, "you attacked out of turn! I could have killed you!" "You'll have to try a lot harder than that!" Raising their weapons once more, they looked around at the snarling, howling beasts. Ruby swapped the elongated E-cap on her Crescent Rose and prepared for a fight-until a burning tree fell down near the duo. "We have to go!" said Weiss, grabbing Ruby and pulling her away from the growing inferno that possibly trapped the pack.

Making it to relative safety, the two took a moment to catch their breath before Ruby asked, "What was _that_?! That should have been easy!" "Well, perhaps if you had exercised even the _slightest_ amount of caution with the placement of your strikes, I wouldn't have _set the forest on fire_!" "What's that supposed to mean?!" "I'm just surprised that someone that talks so much would communicate so little during an encounter!" "Well, I'm sorry that you need my help to win a fight! I'm just fine on my own!" "Well, congratulations on being the strongest _child_ to sneak your way into Beacon! Bravo!" That last comment angered Ruby quite a bit, since she decided to vent her anger by drawing Crescent Rose, using its beam blade to slice through a tree.

* * *

Making their way through the forest, Jaune and Pyrrha were searching for the temple when Jaune's attention was garnered by the distant sounds of explosions. The noise did not escape Pyrrha's attention, who answered Jaune's query by identifying it as gunfire. As the pair continued on, Pyrrha pushed a branch out of the way, which snapped back and hit an unprepared Jaune in the face of the Exia, knocking it down and jostling Jaune. Pyrrha apologized before asking why Jaune didn't use his Aura to stop the blow. Pyrrha had to explain to an actually-clueless Jaune about what Aura was, about souls and the Grimm's lack thereof, and how Aura was inherent to all.

After this, Pyrrha placed her Aegis' hands on the head and chest of Jaune's Exia. "Close your eyes," she ordered. Jaune obeyed, closing his eyes, the sights and sounds of the cockpit melting away. Inside and outside their Mobile Suits, the light of their souls glowed as one. Pyrrha began to speak as this process continued:

"_For it is in passing that we achieve immortality, through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee._"

After this, Pyrrha ceased to glow, and seemed a bit more exhausted. As Pyrrha explained that she unlocked Jaune's Aura, she noticed how, on the comm-feed, the bruise he just sustained in the cockpit healed up quickly.

* * *

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest, Lie Ren was walking the Dynames through a field of rather tall grass before he stopped, sensing something. His intuition was proven right when a King Taijitu, a massive serpent, rose up from behind his Mobile Suit. It swiftly slithered around him before coming to a brief stop in front of Ren, whereupon it lunged at him, fangs bared. Ren dodged it quickly, taking the Dynames into a backflip, assisted by the glowing particles that flowed out of multiple areas on the green-and-black MS.

As the great snake snapped forward again and again, Ren kept backflipping, letting the monster's head strike earth a couple of times before it launched another attack that Ren was forced to block. He raised the Dynames' arms into a cross-stance, letting him deflect the blow that connected and using that strike to catapult away from the snake. When he touched land again, the King Taijitu coiled around him, towering above the Mobile Suit. The Dynames quickly drew its StormFlower pistols, the fold-out guns flying from the forearms into its hands. Leaping upwards, the Dynames flipped over and unleashed its weaponry.

The twin beam pistols sprayed rapid-fire beam shots into the serpent, though the green-colored bursts failed to seriously harm the creature. As Ren fell earthward again, he guided his agile Dynames to deliver a kick to the head of the Taijitu, knocking it over. He charged in, swinging the solid blade of one pistol into its head as it rose again, sending it away for a mere second before it leaped at him again. He dodged again, leaping into the air and flipping before he landed, plunging the blades into the head of the beast. However, the other half of the King Taijitu rose up, white in contrast to the black half he had been fighting.

The two heads lunged at Ren once more. He dodged both, landing on the body of the black half, gliding on the slick "back" of the massive Grimm as he continued firing on it. For all of the footwork he could do with a Mobile Suit, however, he was knocked down as the white head came back for a second swing. Knocked away with his StormFlower out of his hands, Ren snapped out a quick "No!" as the black head bore down on him. However, he called upon his Aura to protect him, and he noticed that the particles from the Dynames also seemed to react with his Aura. With the metal hands, he blocked the upper fangs of the Taijitu head, creating a forcefield that held the mighty Grimm back. Ren finally managed to overpower it, grabbing the fangs and breaking them off.

As the head fell towards him again, he sidestepped and spun, throwing one fang into the eye of the creature. Summoning his Aura and the odd particles again, he slammed one of the MS' palms into the fang sticking out of the snake's eye, driving it in. This caused the head to ripple like a water balloon before it exploded, taking the black head off. Charging at the white head, he delivered another such palm slam into the nose, stunning it like before. Jumping for the StormFlower, he grabbed them and aimed both at the exposed eye of the creature, unloading a prolonged burst of fire into it. The eye was vaporized entirely, the remainder of the shots blasting out the insides of the white head. The creature fell for good, smoke pouring from the ruined eye cavity.

Withdrawing the pistols, Ren stood and observed the remains of the Grimm before a sound much like a fake bird call drew his attention. A pink-and-white Gundam-type appeared out of the branches of a nearby tree, hanging upside-down. The automatic comm-feed opened up as per usual, showing Nora Valkyrie's face. "Heh," Ren said, "I still don't think that's what a sloth sounds like." In response, the hanging Gundam reached out with one of its hands and poked Ren's Dynames in the face. "Boop!"

* * *

_MCMS-SP20 Aegis Gundam (Special-Project Transformable Gundam-type Mobile Suit)  
Manufacturer: Mobile Suit Consulate of Mistral  
Operators: Pyrrha Nikos  
Operation: Pilot in standard cockpit in torso  
Dimensions and weight: 18.35 m. overall (MS Mode), 70.44 metric tons (std. Weight)  
Design Features: Phase-Shift Armor, unknown sensor range, 14+ thrusters (outputs unknown), Ultracompact Dust Reaction Battery (output unknown), transformation capabilities (MA mode), reinforced extremities  
Armaments: 2x 75mm CIWS (head-mounted, MS mode only), 4x beam machete (integrated into limbs), 4x beam gun (torso-mounted, MS mode only, power rating 1.6 MW), "__Miló" beam rifle/heat javelin/xiphos (hand-carried, binder-stored, power rating 2.6 MW, directly-powered), "__Akoúo̱" custom shield_

_Pyrrha Nikos, the rising star from Sanctum, had been competing with any Mobile Suit that suited her, using only the __Miló_ and _Akoúo̱ weapons she designed and created. As time went on, she upgraded these weapons as necessary. Before the Mistral Regional Tournament that became part of her list of achievements as a celebrity warrior, the Mobile Suit Consulate of Mistral decided to build for her a "real" Mobile Suit to compete with some of the contestants, who themselves fielded Gundam-level Suits. _

___While Pyrrha was reluctant at first, the Consulate promised her creative control over the MS, along with a degree of fair play, as they made this offer to several others who accepted, promising a level playing field. Pyrrha agreed, taking them at their word. With the guidance of the Consulate's engineers, she started designing, and designing, and designing, until she realized that the MS she created might as well have been a Gundam, as she remarked. Having heard this, the final product was solidified into the Special Project 20: the Aegis Gundam. While inspired from an earlier experiment from the consulate, Pyrrha's design was almost built around her personal weapons. The transforming MS could directly feed the beam rifle and the shield was now more well-integrated with the Suit. With a few final tweaks, Pyrrha entered the tournament grounds and would go on to perform well in the Regional Tournament. When she left for Beacon, she brought the sterling Gundam with her._

___The Aegis itself is a "fluid" Mobile Suit, able to adapt to ranged combat and close combat at a moment's notice. A beam machete built into each limb allows it to fight off opponents that close the distance, while four torso-mounted beam guns add an extra mid-range punch. ____Miló_ is ostensibly a beam rifle, but can transform into a heat javelin or shorten into a double-edged heat sword._Akoúo̱ is a durable shield, treated with anti-beam coating and boasting a sharp outer edge. It can also be thrown, and, thanks to Pyrrha's semblance of polarity, be manipulated mid-air. Finally, the Aegis can transform into a tapered MA form, able to ram through solid objects or grab onto targets if need be. _

* * *

**A/N: I figured that doing the whole initiation arc in one go was a good idea. As it turns out, breaking it up over two chapters is good enough, as this one is long and took a stupid amount of time. I know that I avoid calling Exia and Dynames Gundams-I'm planning on giving Jaune and Ren a scene that explains it. I forgot to make notes for the last chapter, and I didn't think to do an MS profile for that chapter, but I think all I wanted to say was that I wanted to try and compress the arcs so I can do my own fleshing out of things. Also, I realized that I made an error in the first chapter: I described the Gaia as painted red, when, really, Phase-Shift doesn't work like that.**

**Thank you for reading and sticking with this mess.  
**


	4. Scary Monsters and Nice Weapons

Back on Beacon Cliff, Ozpin was standing at the cliff's edge, remotely observing the students on his datascroll (the forest contained many discreet cameras for observing students), when Glynda came up from behind and informed him that the last pairing had been formed: Nora and Ren. "Poor boy," Glynda remarked, "I can't possibly imagine those two getting along..." After making her doubts about Jaune clear, she closed her scroll and began to walk off before she stopped and asked Ozpin what he used as relics this year. She was only met with silence as Ozpin focused on Ruby and Weiss, who were having trouble finding the temple...

* * *

"It's definitely this way," said Weiss, walking her Mobile Suit in various uncertain directions. "I mean, this way! It's _definitely_ this way!" Ruby's Gaia sat on the ground, armor powered-down and cockpit open as Ruby waited for Weiss to figure out where they were going. Weiss came back, prompting Ruby to return her Gundam to its fully-active state. The conversation about where they were going devolved into another argument between the two.

While Ruby hated Weiss' attitude of superiority, Weiss was certain of Ruby's immaturity. Ruby herself, however, muttered that Weiss didn't really know her. The two continued on, regardless of the situation. After several seconds of silence between the two, Ruby stopped when she thought she heard something. Looking up at the source of the noise, it turned out to be a rare sight: a Tyrant Nevermore, a rare version of the variously-sized Nevermores. The massive raptor likely nested in a deep chasm or ravine elsewhere, as there were few other places big enough to house an avian big enough to be mistaken for a Mobile Armor on radar scans. Many other truly gigantic Grimm were already baffling to ponder due to their prodigious size, but the Tyrant, a size category named after the nickname given to the original mega-sized Grimm discovered, was frightening to consider for some people.

An idea quickly formed in Ruby's head. "Hey, look," she indicated to Weiss, "if we get on top of that hill and then jump when it passes by, we can grab onto that giant Nevermore and ride it, and that way, we can find the Forest Temple easy!" "That...is a _terrible_ idea! How can we expect _that thing_ to get us there without getting us killed?" "We can hang onto its feathers, it's real easy that way...and it can't get at us if we hang onto its side or something! Plus, it's better than wandering around lost!" After a few moments, Weiss relented, saying, "Fine, but this better work!"

With that, the two of them dashed up the nearby hill while Ruby used her speakers to call the titanic bird over. As it flew by at a high speed, Ruby and Weiss' Gundams boosted upwards and the both of them grabbed onto the underbelly of the beast as it flew away. The sudden jolt as they were spirited away by the Tyrant managed to disorient Ruby, almost knocking her out cold. Weiss called to Ruby while the Nevermore flew higher into the sky.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha came to a stop at the mouth of a cave large enough to admit one Mobile Suit at a time. The cave seemed to lead slightly downwards and the rock wall outside it had various markings too small to see in a Mobile Suit, depicting humans fighting a scorpion. "Think this is it?" asked Jaune, hoping that they'd found the temple.

Scant seconds later, the duo was walking inside the cave, night vision active. However, the light-amplification capabilities of both of their Mobile Suits could only do so much, giving them a very short distance in which they could see anything. "I'm not sure this is it," Pyrrha said. "Pyrrha, wouldn't it make sense to put it at the end of a dark, scary tunnel?" Jaune asked before his Exia tripped forward. At that moment, Pyrrha noticed a rising heat signature, which worried her.

The pair continued onward, Pyrrha following Jaune as usual, until they both came upon a large, pointed, glowing object bright enough to make them disengage night vision. Jaune, who thought it was the relic they needed, attempted to grab it, but it moved away from him. After two more attempts, he grabbed onto it with his Mobile Suit, before it floated upwards, lifting him. "Jaune..." began Pyrrha, unsure of the "relic." At that moment, multiple eyes and a massive body began to glow right in front of the two. It turned out to be a Deathlurker, a titanic, almost ancient scorpion that had just awoken from its last period of dormancy. Jaune immediately screamed inside his cockpit before the monster roared loudly.

Immediately, Pyrrha turned her Aegis around and ran in the other direction, sprinting out of the cave the way they came in. A mere second after she exited the cave, the Deathlurker crashed through, hissing and bellowing, with Jaune still holding onto its stinger. Jaune, calling for Pyrrha, shouted, "THIS IS NOT THE RELIC! IT'S NOT! DO SOMETHING!" "Jaune, whatever you do, don't let-" Pyrrha was cut off as the Deathlurker whipped its tail forth, flinging Jaune's Exia into the air far away. "...Go." Pyrrha looked back at the scorpion and then turned and darted away before the Deathlurker gave chase.

* * *

"Ruby! I told you this was a _terrible_ idea!" Weiss said to Ruby as the girl came to. Ruby could see much of the forest from where they were, and she thought she could spot the Forest Temple coming up fast. "We're fine! Stop worrying!" After a brief bit of bickering, Ruby suggested the two jump. Before Weiss could finish responding to that idea, Ruby had already jumped off, hurtling earthward. "Oh, you insufferable little rat!" Weiss attempted to follow, but the Tyrant was so fast, she couldn't clear it and ended up hanging from it by one of its talons.

* * *

Yang and Blake came up on the temple, a sizable circular ruin. "Think this is it?" Yang asked. Her only response was silence, however, as Blake crouched her Mobile Suit down, opening the cockpit and stepping out. Yang decided to follow suit, figuring Blake knew what she was doing. The temple grounds were arrayed with sixteen pedestals in a semi-circle, an object resembling a gold or black chess piece placed on each one with the exception of four. Some pieces were identical to one another. The two figured that they were beaten there by two other pairs of initiates.

Yang decided on which piece to take, settling for a golden knight piece. Blake, grabbing another golden knight, remarked on how easy it was to find the temple. Just then, however, their attention was fixed on a distant bellowing noise. "Blake, did you hear that? What should we do?" Blake took off and ran back to her Mobile Suit, Yang following suit. After reactivating her Suit, Blake looked up into the sky, looking for the source of a noise she heard herself. "What now?" asked Yang before Blake indicated a falling object: a familiar red-colored Mobile Suit, with a familiar voice shouting "HEADS UP!" spouting out of its speakers.

As Ruby's Gaia Wulfen fell head-first, it was intercepted midair by a silver-and-white Mobile Suit-the Exia. The Exia crashed into the Gaia, sending both machines sideways into a tree. Despite the speed of the crashes, both Suits were largely undamaged, and both pilots were similarly okay. The impacts disoriented Ruby, and when she came to her senses, she saw Jaune's Exia hanging in front of her upside-down, suspended by branches. "Hey, Ruby," a deflated and exhausted Jaune said over the short-range comm.

"Did your sister just fall from the sky?" asked Blake. "I..." Yang's answer was cut short as the sound of a cannon nearby cut her off. Trees at the edge of the clearing fell away as a Bigfoot, a hairy, uniquely humanoid Grimm just a smidgen bigger than an upright Ursa Major, came crashing through, thrashing about in pain and confusion as another cannon blast sounded, an explosion of pink light coming from behind it. The beast collapsed, toppling forwards as a pink-and-white Gundam-type was thrown off, apparently having used the Bigfoot as a ride, piggybacking on it. "Aw, it's broken." lamented Nora as she inspected the downed Grimm.

Ren caught up in his Dynames, exasperated at what happened earlier: the two of them had encountered the beast and Ren performed a couple more of those particle-charged palm slams, agitating and disorienting it before Nora busted out her Heavyarms' main weapon, jumping onto the giant, and shooting into its back to herd it forward. That, however, caused quite a few trees to fall, almost trapping Ren underneath. By the time he managed to escape being crushed, Nora and the Bigfoot were already a good distance away, trailed by many other felled trees.

"Nora!" Ren said now that that was over, "Please...don't ever do that again!" As he went to rejoin her, however, she had already rushed off, parking her Gundam near the temple and running off to take a relic. She picked up a gold rook piece, holding it aloft while singing "_I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!_" "NORA!" Ren called after her. "Coming, Ren!" said Nora, grabbing a gold rook for Ren as well before skipping off. "Did that girl just ride in on a Bigfoot?" asked Blake. "I..." Yang was again cut short by the scream of a Deathlurker as Pyrrha ran from the creature. The beast gnashed its mandibles together, swinging its large pincer claws at Pyrrha's Aegis, which artfully dodged through them.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha called out. "Pyrrha!" Jaune replied. "Whoa!" said Ruby. "Ruby!" Jaune called, trying to get down as Ruby's Gaia jumped down and rolled sideways to meet Yang and Blake. "Ruby?" Yang said before Ruby exclaimed "Yang!" "Nora!" shouted Nora, her Mobile Suit appearing again suddenly. "Did she just run all the way here with a Deathlurker on her tail?" asked Blake. "Grrrr! I can't take it anymore!" Yang screamed, a rush of fire-energy venting out of her Gundam, "could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again?!"

Things were quiet for two seconds before Ruby spoke up. "Um, Yang...?" Ruby pointed up towards Weiss, still holding onto the Nevermore's talon. As Ruby, Yang, Nora, Ren, and Blake looked on, Weiss decided to let go, her v Gundam falling down hard. Jaune, who managed to extricate himself, saw the falling Weiss and sensed an opportunity to save the girl he'd been hitting on. Leaping forth, the Exia caught the falling v, Jaune taking the time to quip, "Just dropping in?" before he realized that the weight of the other Mobile Suit made things much harder for him. An attempt to boost the both of them failed, leading to both of them falling once more.

Jaune landed first, his Exia falling on its face once again before Weiss' v came crashing down on top of him. Weiss sat her Gundam upright, sarcastically muttering "My hero." "My face," groaned Jaune, having become intimately familiar with the inflating console cushion in his cockpit at this point. The Deathlurker, meanwhile, finally smacked Pyrrha away with one of its big claws, sending her Gundam flying a moderate distance before it crashed in front of the five bystanders. "Great, the gang's all here! Now we can die together!" Yang sarcastically remarked. "Not if I can help it!" Ruby said before taking off again. Using her Crescent Rose to help propel her Gundam forward, she charged at the Deathlurker, which intercepted her and batted her away. Getting up slowly, she realized it was right on top of her, so she boosted away with a shot of the rifle and ran away.

While she managed to get clear of the scorpion, the Nevermore came back, and, with a powerful flap of its wings, fired off several massive feathers, the tips stabbing into the earth and managing to pierce the cloak of Ruby's Gaia, pinning her down. The long trail of feathers also managed to halt a worried Yang, who was already following her sister, in her tracks. As Ruby struggled to free the cloak, she realized the Deathlurker was bearing down on her again, about to drive its stinger into her Gundam. While Yang cried out to Ruby, she noticed a flash of white pass her by. Before the stinger could make contact, it was stopped by what Ruby saw was a wall of ice created by Weiss, trapping it in place as well. Weiss took this opportunity to try and patch things together with her partner (while also getting a few more digs at Ruby's maturity in), and Ruby explained that she wasn't doing this to show off, but to prove herself.

Getting back up, her MS cloak free now, Ruby noticed the Deathlurker, still nearby, but trapped. Yang came over and gave Ruby a Mobile Suit-to-Mobile Suit hug.

* * *

With all eight of them regrouped, they gathered near the temple, outside of their Mobile Suits. All of them quickly formulated a plan to grab the relics and go, ignoring the creatures. Jaune grabbed a gold rook and Ruby a gold knight, the friends taking a moment to smile at each other. Just then, however, the Deathlurker began to free itself of the icy trap, cracks forming in the wall. "Time we left!" Ren pointedly said. All of them dashed back into their Suits, running over a hill and into the ruins, which housed a massive eons-old temple as big as a city. This path was the likeliest way back to Beacon Cliff.

Taking cover in the ruins on both sides, they stopped as the Nevermore that was following them overtook them, perching on a broken tower. As it cried out, some of the students looked back as the Deathlurker from before came charging in. "Oh man, run!" yelled Jaune as he and Pyrrha ducked out of cover and made a break for it. Ruby and Yang did the same, leaving their spot. "Nora, distract it!" ordered Ren as he and Nora ran in two different directions. Dodging a salvo of feathers, Nora readied the main gun of her Heavyarms: the Magnhild, which fired forth specially-made explosive shells, chasing off the Nevermore as they exploded mid-air. As the Deathlurker came up from behind, Ren and Blake deflected its blows with their own weaponry. Weiss grabbed Nora, and, using her Fins, created a glyph to take the both of them away.

Pyrrha saw the scorpion coming up and had Jaune go ahead, whirling back around herself. Her Aegis drew its rifle and shield and she fired several beam shots into the monster's hide as the others ran past her. Ren himself fired off a burst from his StormFlower before continuing to run, as Pyrrha turned and ran as well. The creature could not proceed, the bridge wide enough to admit multiple Suits too narrow for it. The Nevermore, however, circled back around, crashing through the bridge, leaving Blake, Ren, and Pyrrha stuck with the Deathlurker.

"Man, we gotta get over there! They need help!" Jaune said. "Let's do this!" exclaimed Nora. "Can we even make that jump?" At that moment, Nora knocked Jaune's Exia back, detached the Magnhild from her Gundam's arm and unfolded the revolving shell launcher into a warhammer. Nora ran forward and jumped, smashing the hammerhead down into the broken stone. As it collided, the hammer fired off another energy shell, flipping the section of bridge Jaune was on hard enough to catapult him over to the other side, right before Nora repositioned the hammer and fired it again, blasting off a chunk of rubble and riding the hammer over, carrying it into another swing that smashed down on the scorpion's carapace. As the Deathlurker prepared for a stinger strike, she fired again, sending her backwards and knocking Blake away.

Though Blake was knocked off, she saw the Nevermore and decided to focus on it. Stowing away one part of her Gundam's weapon, she fired the Gambol Shroud's magnum, sending the ballistic scythe into a wall. Swinging on its durable cord like a grappling hook, she used her Semblance as she leaped over to the passing Tyrant, the clone-image of her Suit blurring briefly. She used more of these shadow-clones as she struck the bird with the blades of Gambol Shroud, running down its back before jumping off and landing on stone again.

"It's tougher than it looks!" she said as she rejoined Yang, Weiss, and Ruby. "Then let's hit it with everything we've got!" Yang said, readying her Ember Celica. The four of them fired on the Nevermore as it circled back, pelting it with beam shots, solid slugs, fire-blasts, and ice streams. The beast crashed into the large central temple they happened to be perched on. All four of them jumped off the chunk of rubble they stood on, jumping, boosting, and shooting their way to solid ground up above. "None of this is working!" Weiss said. Ruby immediately got an idea and told Weiss to cover her as she boosted away.

Meanwhile, the Deathlurker was digging its stinger into the remainder of the bridge, threatening to send Jaune, Ren, Pyrrha, and Nora down. "We gotta move!" shouted Jaune as they did just that. All four of them charged forward, Pyrrha blocking a claw strike with her shield and then slashing the arm with the heat xiphos. Jaune blocked the other claw with his Exia's smaller shield as well before Pyrrha came and struck it away as well. Ren, guns blazing as he ran forward, grabbed onto the stinger and fired into where it met the rest of the tail. Nora readied her shell launcher and fired off several shells that the Grimm blocked with its claws, sending Jaune and Pyrrha away in the process.

Sensing a new opening, Pyrrha readied her spear, sending it straight into one of the creature's eyes, wounding it. Ren was flung from the stinger and crashed into a wall, though he was on safe ground again. As Jaune got up, he saw the dangling stinger, loosened from the beam fire pumped into the joint, and shouted to Pyrrha. At his signal, Pyrrha flung her shield, the circular piece cutting off the stinger as it flew by, sending the heavy body part into the scorpion's carapace as Pyrrha's shield came flying back.

"Nora, nail it!" Jaune ordered. "Heads up!" she replied, jumping onto Pyrrha's shield as she readied her hammer. With a boost from Pyrrha, Nora fired the hammer, blasting off the shield and flying up in the air. With another pull of the trigger, she boosted herself downwards, driving the stinger further into the carapace, which also had the side effect of making the beast smash into the bridge, launching Jaune and Pyrrha to safety. Nora fired off again, rejoining her comrades as the Deathlurker fell into the chasm below.

Back over to the others, Yang's Shining Gold Gundam was perched on top of a pillar, hurling firebolt after firebolt at the Nevermore as it circled around. She managed to place one shot into the side of its head, briefly throwing it off before the avian came back around and flew straight at her, beak open, as if it intended to swallow the offending Mobile Suit. Yang was ready for this, however, and jumped straight in, using one arm to help prop the beak open while the other pumped more firepower into its gullet. "I! Hope! You're! Hungry!" Yang grunted, punctuating each syllable with a blast from the free fist. She then jumped out, having managed to stun the beast enough to let it crash into the cliff face, the Tyrant too pained to notice the upcoming obstacle. The great bird smashed into the rock back-first, leaving an impression and knocking tons of rubble loose.

It righted itself as it fell, perching on a ruined stone overhang and screeched at its prey. Yang looked away from the creature to see Ruby, Blake, and Weiss, who in particular was busy zooming forwards at incredible speed. Yang dashed back while Weiss charged forward before she leaped at the Tyrant and struck the ruins with an ice-blast, trapping the bird by its tail as it was about to take off again. Jumping back with another glyph, she let Blake carry out the next part of the plan, which saw Blake using her Gambol Shroud's pistol to send the gun-blade into the hand of Yang's Gundam.

The both of them held up the connecting cord between two opposing pillars they hung onto, creating a makeshift slingshot. Ruby boosted herself up to the cord and positioned herself for launch, the cord stretching and lengthening out as it took the weight of Ruby's Gundam and its gun-scythe. Weiss, who was standing on the ground, used all of her Fin Funnels to generate an extra-strong glyph to pull back the part of the cord and the object that would be launched from it. "Of course you would come up with this idea!" Weiss said. "Think you can make the shot?" Ruby asked. "Hmph! Can I?" "Can you-" "Of course I can!"

With that, Ruby made sure Crescent Rose was charged up as she summoned her Semblance, combining it with the launch glyph that Weiss released, catapulting her Gundam forward at great velocity. Boosting forward with thrusters and blasts from the gun-scythe, she hooked the Tyrant by its neck, continuing to boost in such a manner, rose petals trailing from the Gaia. She had enough momentum to slam the creature's head into the rock wall and planted her feet on the wall as well.

At the same time, Weiss sent the Fins forward and unfurled them. The devices made two parallel lines up the cliff face, generating glyphs for Ruby to run up on-which she did, using the scythe to keep boosting her while also discharging fire into the Tyrant's hide. This let her carry the massive beast up the side of the cliff, screaming as she did, until she reached the top. She still had plenty of momentum from this, though, and as the Tyrant Nevermore got caught on the cliff's outcropping, the force of the red Gundam carrying it up, combined with the power of the beam scythe which had been burning through the Grimm's flesh, resulted in its head being severed clean in a flourish of boiled blood and rose petals as Ruby reached the top.

Ruby landed on the top of the cliff a split second after the head of the great Grimm touched down. The Gundam landed in a crouch, its large scythe carried across its back, the beam blade driven partially into the earth. The corpse of the Mobile Armor-sized Nevermore fell down, past the temple ruins and into the foggy abyss below. Seconds later, it landed with a distinct crash, shaking the whole valley, though the ruins miraculously held together in spite of the shockwave. "Wow," said Jaune, who'd been observing from a distance.

Ruby stood at the edge of the cliff she just conquered, rose petals streaming in the wind. "Well," said Yang, standing on the ground with Blake and Weiss, "that was a thing!" As the rose petals subsided, the beam blade of Crescent Rose dissipated and the armor of the Gaia Gundam Wulfen faded to grey. The day's events, especially the great battle with the massive Grimm, had drained much of the Mobile Suit's battery. Ruby had enough power to get back to Beacon Cliff, but that was it for the day.

Thankfully, everyone was close to Beacon Cliff now, and so, their first outing ended when all eight of them came back to the launch site.

* * *

_YXL-GG Shining Gold Gundam (Personally-customized Gundam-type "Mobile Fighter")_

_Manufacturer: Unknown (possibly Haven Mobile Combat Company)  
Operators: Yang Xiao Long  
Operation: Pilot in panoramic cockpit with Motion Trace System, in (nonfunctional) Core Lander  
Dimensions and Weight: 16.3 m. overall, 17.5 metric tons (overall weight)  
Design Features: Gundarium Alloy armor, unknown sensor range, 8 thrusters (outputs unknown), Ultracompact Dust Reactor (output unknown), "Core Lander System" (nonfunctional, modified into Motorcycle Entry System), Emotion Energy System, Super Mode(?), Hyper Mode(?)  
Armaments: 2x 60mm Vulcans (head-mounted), 2x beam guns (torso-mounted, power rating 1 MW), "Ember Celica" Dual-Ranged Shot Gauntlets (arm-mounted, shell-fed)  
_

_Once upon a time, Yang was looking around for a Mobile Suit to replace her old, damaged Efreet. She used a petit MS to root around what was once a battlefield until she stumbled on an interesting find: a heavily-damaged Gundam-looking MS lying under a pile of dirt and debris. She decided to sell off her Efreet, which became a collector's item, and use the money to repair the mysterious Gundam. In the process, she learned it was called a Shining Gundam, though she couldn't quite find out who made it (many people suggested it came from Haven, which made a degree of sense even though its top MS manufacturer didn't seem to have any info on it). Additionally, she learned that it proved to be quite a surprising fit for her, a girl who otherwise disdained Mobile Suit combat in favor of fistfights. It had a system for tracking the human body's movements and it seemed to possess a plug-in version of the rare Core Block System, seemingly called a Core Lander System. On top of that, it had a weird trick: it read the pilot's emotions, and could possibly get stronger from them._

_However, restoring the Gundam to working order was a challenge that required modifying many parts and systems. The Core Lander, while largely intact, could not eject itself from the back of the Gundam and had to be re-wired and refitted to permanently fix it to the machine's frame. However, she changed it so that she could use her motorcycle to enter into it if the need arose, preserving the idea of the Core Lander System. Next, what remained of its weaponry had to be overhauled completely due to sheer damage. The vulcans were the only guns that didn't need removing. While removing the old guns, Yang got an idea for a weapon she could use: gauntlets that doubled as shotguns. She had always preferred close-ranged combat in her Efreet, as it had a Heat Hawk and Heat Knives, but she also carried a pump-action shotgun with standard shells and special fire-blast shells. Given that it seemed unfit for typical combat, Yang decided she had found her ideal Mobile Suit and had the Ember Celica Dual-Ranged Shot Gauntlets made for it, loaded with explosive fire-blasting shells that could deliver explosive punches or shoot powerful blasts out. There was only one last thing, though: the motion-tracking system the cockpit used required a skintight suit to be put on before it could be used. Yang balked at the idea of having to strip down to use the MS, so she modified the system to read bodily movements via a combination of multiple cameras and a set of jewelry (including bracelets, ankle rings, and a choker) she made for herself that contained positional transmitters for motion-capture._

_With all the necessary modifications and repairs made, Yang repainted it yellow with additional accents and named it Shining Gold. The many vents underneath its moving armor plates sometimes vent heat buildup (resulting from modifications and repairs made to the reactor), but also emit fire in accordance to the intensity of Yang's emotions, a part of the Emotion Energy System integrated throughout the Gundam. This system created a link between pilot and machine, allowing the user to be embodied in the Mobile Suit. Yang thus considers it a part of herself, and gets angered when it gets damaged. Its possible that her emotions and/or Semblance could awaken a hidden power inside the Gundam, a power that remains even after being wrecked and repaired..._

* * *

**A/N: Thus concludes the initiation arc of the story. I forgot I named the not-Godzilla the Tyrant, so I'll just say that all really-big Grimm are Tyrant-class. **

**When I come back to this, I will keep compressing what I can, while exploring both Teams RWBY and JNPR: Ren and Jaune will realize they pilot Gundams, training and sparring will happen for all, and Jaune will get a revenge match with Cardin. I'm gonna make the Jaunedice stuff happen off-screen so I can explore other things. I have plans, and they may not be big plans, but I'm trying to shoot for something unique.**

**I will say that this is probably the last chapter I will put up before I go back to college. However, I imagine that Vol. 2 will keep me inspired to continue this throughout the first several weeks of classes. That, and the upcoming Reconguista in G will help. Thank you for reading this, please leave a comment if you can, share this story with others, and have a nice day.**


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